Did you just read something in a book on gerbils and wonder if whoever wrote it really knows what they're talking about? Well, check here and see if it is!
| Statement | Fact or Fiction? |
| Gerbils do not need any water. | Noooo! Definitely fiction. Of course they need water, everything does in some amount. It has been proven that, since gerbils are desert creatures, they can withstand a while without water, but that is only if necessary. Gerbils love having a waterbottle in their cage so whenever they get thirsty, they can go take a sip. |
| You should get a pair of female gerbils, but males will always fight each other. suggested by many, many people with very nice little boys = ) | Curiously enough, the opposite is true of gerbils, therefore this is fiction as well. While two females, if raised from a young age, can get along fine, two males will accept each other much more readily, even when introduced as adults. That isn't to say female gerbils can't be introduced, just that if you're an amateur at gerbil keeping and don't wish to breed, two males would probably be more easy going, and if one were to die you shouldn't have any trouble finding it an acceptable new cagepartner. Unfortunately not many people know this, and breeders grow frustrated because everyone seems to want a pair of females and won't take males! |
| Commercial bedding and cloth is safe for gerbils. suggested by Julie | Many books I've read tell you how unsafe wool is for gerbils. This is true, but most cloth can be potentially dangerous as well. They can get tangled up in the cloth, especially the little ones. Babies can be suffocated. And I remember one report that SAM Sleep Stuff cut the limbs of some of their newborn babies, so it is best to steer clear. Tissue, cardboard, and regular litter can make just as soft a nest as cloth. |
| A lonely gerbil will be perfectly happy. | This is disputable. A lonely gerbil, if paid enough attention, won't necessarily be lonely and dejected and may indeed be rather happy, but gerbil would definitely be more happy in a group. Females normally are kept in pairs (any larger number is usual a very volatile combination because of the ongoing scuffles over dominance), males are usually more active when kept in 4-8 if introduced at a young age (but they live fine in pairs also), and of course breeding animals work best with just two. |
| Gerbils should be picked up at the base of the tail, where it meets the body. | This is a fact, but it is actually preferable to cup them in your hands and pick them up. Picking a gerbil up at the base of the tail is only necessary if you can't get a hold on it otherwise. I mean, you wouldn't like being grabbed by your tail much either. |
| Gerbils are nocturnal. | I'm not too sure on this, but in my experience it is fiction. Gerbils do not sleep all day, nor do they sleep all night. They take quick "cat naps" throughout the day. Usually, though, my gerbils are all asleep when I hop into bed around 10pm and still snoozing when I get up at 6:30. I have no clue if they get up in between, though. |
| Gerbils smell suggested by g.m. | Gerbils are actually the less smelly of the common rodent pets, rats and mice. This is because they are adapted to desert environments and leave less waste. If the cages aren't cleaned regularly, then of course they're going to smell. They should be cleaned about every 2-3 weeks if you have 2 gerbils in a ten gallon tank, more frequently for more animals. |
| A male must be separated when babies are born, or he will kill them. | Only very rarely does the male attack his own young. In fact it is more likely that the mother would, if it is her first litter and she is feeling insecure because of loud noises. The male doesn't disturb the female and young, he usually helps her, in fact. Studies show that sometimes litters have lower survival rates without a male present. He performs several vital tasks. However, if you don't want any more pups, you had better separate him fast--gerbils usually mate again the day of the birth, and in 25-30 days you'll have yet another litter. |
| Hamster wheels can amputate gerbils tails. Submitted by g.m. | I keep hearing this!! I don't know what sort of wheels the people who tell me this are using, but I have never had such an incident. The only gerbil of mine with a broken tail was due to my little brother picking him up by the wrong part of the tail. The wheels that I use (metal ones, I think SAM makes them but I don't remember) have maybe 1/4 an inch of space between the wheel and the stand, the tail easily slips through and I honestly don't see how they could get hurt. Use your own best judgement. |
| Gerbils shouldn't be kept in cages. | Gray area here. This really just depends on what you prefer. Gerbils love to burrow, so in that respect a tank is better. However, cages give the gerbils more fresh air, and let the perfumes from some litter filter out. Then again, gerbils can gnaw on the bars and get sore noses. There are many pros and cons to both. I have 3 tanks and 3 cages (not all in use right now) and I don't really prefer any, either. But if you're breeding, I'd go with a tank. I hear that sometimes small babies can be kicked out of bars. I'm not sure, but I wouldn't chance it. |
| HabiTrail, S.A.M., Hartz or other tunnel-like cages are best for gerbils. | While these do simulate the gerbil's natural environment somewhat, they are largely more trouble than they're worth. Besides being expensive, gerbils can often find ways around the chew-protection, no matter what it is, and will eventually destroy the cage, and escape. They can gnaw or even burrow their way through plastic given enough time. If you really want to simulate a gerbil's natural environment, fill a ten gallon tank halfway full of aspen bedding, give the gerbils lots of cardboard, and see what sorts of tunnels they can create on their own. |
| Gerbils shouldn't use cedar bedding. | Fact, because cedar can cause many allergic reactions in gerbils. I gives them sore noses and irritates their eyes. This is especially bad for young animals. Instead, you should use pine or aspen bedding. |
| If you grab them by the tail it will come off. submitted by g.m. | This depends on *where* you grab the gerbil. If you grab it at the middle or end of the tail, then yes you will likely pull off some fur or break it. If you grasp them at the base where it meets the body you should have no problem, but the gerbil may not like it after a while = ) |
| If you put two adult gerbils together they will get along immediatly. submitted by g.m. | Fiction fiction fiction!! Dont *ever* try this! You can get two males together if you introduce them slowly, swapping cages or using a split tank (a tank with a grate separating the two sides so they can share it for a week and get used to each other), and if they don't fight for the first hour. Females, however, this is less likely to work with even. If you introduce a male to a male, a female to a female, or a female to a male they will most likely fight to the death if they haven't been introduced via a split cage or cage swap. |
| You can put a gerbil with a hamster submitted by g.m. | Fiction. Hamsters sometimes will kill *each other*, let alone a poor gerbil. I had an experience with something like this. A kid at my school accidentally put a gerbil back in with a hamster. Man was that hamster ticked! You could hear it screeching all the way across the room. I immediatly went back and found out what had happened and could save poor Mr. Bean! (the gerbil) So don't even think of doing this. A gerbil should have another gerbil as company, not a hamster. |
| They attract mice to your home. submitted by g.m. | Normally this isn't true. Simply having gerbils around will not attract mice. But if you keep their food out in the open it may, but no more so then having any regular food in your house, so don't worry about this at all. |
| A breeding pair can be introduced to each other when the female is in heat with no problems whatsoever. inspired by someone's unfortunate incident | BEWARE of this. At first the animals will seem to get along, since their natural instincts will kick and they will mate, but the next day the female will likely kill the male. The best way to introduce a breeding pair that is over 7 weeks is to use a split cage. |
| Gerbils need a lot of heat to stay healthy suggested by Julian | While gerbils do live in the desert, it isn't necessary for them to live in a constantly warm environment. Room temperature, i.e. the normal temperature of your home, should be sufficient. They don't mind it if they get a little cold, either, since deserts can get extremely cold. Cold they can compensate for by creating nests and lumping together, but heat they can't really do much about, so just keep the temperature around normal. |
| Gerbils will not mate with their own offspring suggested by Julian | Don't let anyone tell you this = ) Gerbils are animals, and like all animals, they are programmed to reproduce, whether with an unrelated gerbil or their own child. Personally I don't know if they can tell a relative from a complete stranger (though their tendancy to "forget" adult children seems to indicate they can't) but even so, as I said, that may just not matter to them = ) |
| Gerbils should not be inbred. | This is true, to a degree. Inbreeding increases the likelihood of unfavorable mutations and strengthens deadly recessives, and with too many generations of it the offspring will simply be inviable. Most breeders say inbreeding is okay for the first 3 generations, then you should "cross out" (mate to an unrelated animal) for a generation. Inbreeding is, in fact, a common practice when trying to obtain rare traits or get more of a new mutation, and most gerbils in pet stores are heavily inbred (though lots of times this causes them to be less healthy than a breeder's stock). |
| If you remove the male after the female has given birth she won't have
chance to get pregnant again. suggested by Julian | The only way to ensure that there will be no further litters is to remove the father before the birth, otherwise it is probably already too late. Gerbils will mate immediatly after the birth of a litter. In fact I have even heard one story where a male was actually getting impatient and trying to chase his mate before she was done giving birth! He settled down, though. |
| Gerbils mate for life | As nice as this would be, it isn't true. If, say, a male gerbil's mate, even one he's had several litters with, died, if you placed him with another adult female they would no doubt begin having more litters (unless he was too old). This is also how breeders are able to pair a daughter with their father or son with their mother in order to breed new mutations. |
| A mother gerbil will eat the babies if you touch them. suggested by g.m. | Happily, this is rarely true. However, it really depends on your relationship with your gerbil. My gerbils I handle all the time and they are very familiar with me and normally don't mind if I handle the young even the day they are born! However I have never tried this until the 3rd or 4th litter just to be safe. But if you notice a little one all the way on the other side of the tank, seemingly forgotten by the parents, don't be afraid to move them back to the warmth of the nest. |
| Gerbils will stop breeding if there isn't enough room. | I read this in one of my books (Gerbils: All About Them by Dr. Alvin and Virginia B. Silverstein, which is otherwise rather accurate if out of date), but just as with the gerbil monogamy this is fiction so far as I know. If there are many, many gerbils in a tank it's not that they will stop reproducing all together, it's that the offspring simply won't survive, whether they're killed by others, or just trampled or abandoned by stressed out mothers. |
| If a mother gerbil kills her babies she'll never be a good mother. | In some situations the mother is merely frightened after the birth of her first litter, and sometimes second, and can be stressed out if there is a great deal of commotion in the room (for this reason I leave new mothers and their mates and babies in the closet for the first week--I have a very loud alarm clock), and may kill the babies. I have no direct experience with this, but I think the general rule is that if she does this more than once it is best not to breed her anymore, or if you really have to (if she is a rare color or something) you could foster the pups by giving them to another nursing mother. |
| Gerbil babies can be fostered by a nursing mouse | I've heard several cases of this, and apparently it works. It's done when the mother has lost several litters before, if she dies before they are weaned, or if she is inexperienced and has a large litter. Mice are usually good mothers to gerbil offspring, if you are careful to get them mixed in with her own offspring well enough so that she thinks they are hers. However, if you have a nursing gerbil mother available then that is of course the better choice. Even if a gerbil mother has pups that are almost weaned she can usually successfully foster new babies. |
| Gerbils should be weaned at 3 weeks suggested by Julie | It is in the baby gerbil's best interest not to wean before 6 weeks. Even if you see them eating food they are not necessarily independent from their mother yet. Gerbils weaned forcefully (i.e. removed from their mother's presences before 5 or 6 weeks of age) are usually smaller than gerbils left with their mom. Normally even a new litter won't provide too much trouble for 5 week old pups. They help out mom a little, and usually she doesn't object. After 6 weeks they can be given away. |
| And the biggest myth of all:
Pet Shops can sex gerbils. :-) suggested by Julian | Well, some can . . . but I wouldn't trust them. The fact is, most pet stores have so many types of animals that the people selling them can't always be well experienced with each kind of animal. They are prone to making errors, especially with younger gerbils. So, if I were you, I would get a second opinion, especially if you don't want to breed. A third opinion is helpful as well . . . my life science teacher couldn't even tell a male from a female, when she had one of each to compare! Gender mis-identification has to be the #1 cause of unwanted gerbil litters among pet owners. In fact, sometimes I think perhaps it is all a conspiracy by the pet stores to get free stock = ) |
If you heard something about gerbils that you've been wondering about, please feel free to email me at [email protected], and I'll see if I can help.